Pieces Of Me

Chapter 18

"You're expecting a girl", the gynecologist finally said and both Spencer's and Leah's eyes widened. "A girl...", Spencer whispered in awe while he still looked at the monitor. Leah swallowed but she couldn't hold back any tears. A girl. She was pregnant with a little baby girl. Knowing that she'll have a daughter in some months, somehow made this whole thing more real. And it suddenly hit her extremely hard. She was going to be a mother. She would hold her baby in her arms in about four months.

She squeezed Spencer's hand and looked up to him. He returned the look and gently stroked Leah's cheek to wipe away the tears. Then he leaned down and kissed her. "I love you. I love you so much. And I love our baby girl", he whispered and his voice was slightly shaking.

"I love you too", Leah replied, feeling the happiest she could feel. For a moment the whole situation with her biological parents had taken a back seat.

~

On the way back Leah and Spencer decided that they wanted to keep the sex of their baby a secret for a while. They wanted to enjoy that news all by themselves – at least for some weeks.

They were still sitting in the car when Leah's phone rang all of a sudden. IT was Penelope calling.

"Hey, Penny. What's the matter?", Leah answered. "Hello dear! Listen, me and JJ would love to go shopping and wanted to ask if you'd like to join us", Penelope explained. Leah bit her lips and thought about it for a moment. She would have to buy some new clothes soon, since she only fit in like one pair of jeans so far. So, why not?

"Okay, I'm in. Where and when?", she asked as she got out of the car. Leah and Spencer had finally arrived at home. "We'll catch you up in ten minutes!", Penelope exclaimed, sounding all excited and Leah couldn't hide a smile. "I'll be ready", she said and then ended the call.

Spencer looked at Leah, a small smirk on his full lips. "What?", Leah asked as she stepped up to him and kissed him. Spencer shook his head. "Nothing. I just...assume you'll go shopping or something with the girls?"

"Yeah, they want to go shopping and want me to join them. I need new clothes anyway", Leah said and looked down her body. Her baby bump wasn't small enough to hide anymore and the pants she was wearing weren't that comfortable anymore as well. Spencer had followed her look and now came closer.

He wrapped his arms around her. "You look incredibly beautiful and you'll always look beautiful, no matter how much your baby bump will grow", he quietly said and Leah laughed. "That's really nice from you", she chuckled and then finally stepped into the apartment building. She had to change clothes, that was for sure. She wouldn't go shopping and walk through the city in pants that were too tight. "But we'll have to go shopping for the baby as well! I hope you won't forget that when you're buying tons of baby stuff today", Spencer said when Leah had come back to the living room. She chuckled. "Of course I won't forget that, darling!", Leah assured him and pressed a kiss on Spencer's lips.

Ten minutes and some kisses from Spencer later, Leah waited in front of the apartment building for JJ and Penelope to catch her up. She had found some jeans that she had bought two years ago and that had been too big for her until now. But now she was thankful for them.

Stepping from one foot to the other, Leah looked around. She couldn't hide that she was slightly nervous. Knowing that there might be a killer – her parents' killer – out there somewhere made her feel a bit uncomfortable. But she didn't dare to tell Spencer. If she'd do so, he'd never leave her alone anymore, not even for a second, until the man would be caught. And Leah didn't want that – especially since she thought that it could take the FBI way more time to catch him.

"Hey, Leah!" Penelope's voice pulled Leah out of her thoughts and she looked around to find out where the voice came from. She saw JJ's car only a few steps away from her and hurried to get in it.

"How are you doing?", JJ asked and looked into the rearview mirror. "I'm doing fine", Leah said and it was the truth. She was actually doing fine. And she was excited to go shopping.

"Girls...would you...would you mind if I'd ask Billie to join us as well? She was too excited to go buy baby clothes the last time we were in the city", Leah eventually asked. Both, JJ and Penelope nodded. "Of course", Penelope said with a smile on her bright red lips.

~

Later, after they had been buying maternity clothes for Leah, they were all sitting in a café having coffee, juice and cake to take a little break.

"Okay, so...we really should know if you'll have a girl or a boy, so we know what kind of clothes we have to buy", Billie said all of a sudden, with a huge grin on her face before she grabbed her cup of coffee to take a sip. Three pairs of eyes were looking at Leah now, they were all full of expectation. Leah sighed and put down her glass of strawberry and banana smoothie.

"Spencer and I wanted to keep it a secret for a while", she then explained. But the looks on JJ's, Billie's and Penelope's faces told Leah that she wouldn't stand any chance to keep it a secret for any longer. The three women would not give up until they'd knew the sex of the baby.

"Come on, we're your friends! We want to help you and buy baby stuff! What if we buy clothes for a boy now and then you'll have a girl? Or we buy clothes for a girl and you'll have a boy?", Penelope said. Once again Leah sighed. She leaned back in her chair and put her hands on her baby bump.

"We'll have a girl, but please don't tell the others of the team!", she then said and couldn't hold back a huge grin. Penelope let out a squeal, and so did JJ and Billie, as they all jumped from their chairs and hugged Leah tight.

"Oh my god, a baby girl! Our genius is going to be the father of a cute little girl!", Penelope exclaimed.

"I hoped that you'd have a girl", JJ confessed after they all had sat back on their chairs. "Why?", Leah asked frowning.

JJ smirked. "Because I always imagined Spencer being a dad of a little girl. I guess he'll treat her like a princess", she explained. Leah nodded as she rubbed her belly. She thought the same. She could imagine Spencer with a baby girl and only the thought of it made her feel all warm and happy. She couldn't wait for her daughter to finally arrive.

Later, the four women went to one of the biggest stores for baby clothes and layette and were immediately in awe by all the cute and beautiful stuff they sold there.

For hours Leah, JJ, Penelope and Billie strolled through the shelves, filling their carts. "Guys, you really shouldn't buy so much for the baby!", Leah said eventually as she glanced into the other three carts. They were carrying way more stuff than her own and she started to get a bad conscience.

But Penelope shook her head and put an arm around Leah's shoulder. "We already love that little girl that's growing inside of you and we want it to have everything when it's born." Leah sighed. Nothing would change Penelope's mind, that was for sure. And it didn't seem as if JJ and Billie would do that as well. So Leah let them do whatever they wanted.

With both their hands full of bags, Leah, Penelope, JJ and Billie went to JJ's car hours later and tucked it all in the trunk. "That was fun!", Billie giggled, the others nodded. "Oh yes, it really was", JJ said.

"Yeah, and the baby is going to have enough clothes for her first three years", Leah smirked. They had bought so many clothes, pacifiers, baby bottles and stuff that she and Spencer only would have to buy the big things, like a baby crib and a changing table.

"You can never have enough clothes for your child, Leah", JJ replied, "you'll have to wash clothes basically every day, believe me."

When Leah closed the door behind her, she was surrounded by lots of bags. JJ, Penelope and Billie had helped her bringing them all up into the apartment and then had left soon. Leah grabbed the bags and placed them in the corridor. She didn't feel like unpacking them right now. She was exhausted – a day out shopping was getting really exhausting with the extra weight she was carrying around and she knew it wouldn't get better until the baby would be born.

"I can't wait for you to finally be here", she sighed, rubbed her baby bump and then went into the bedroom to get undressed. Spencer didn't seem to be home, so Leah assumed that he was at work or out with Derek. So she decided to take a long, hot bath and then curl up on the couch or in bed and take a nap.